16 - Reviewing commercial prospects of bioethanol as a renewable source of future energy—an Australian perspective

Abstract

Despite a “food vs fuel” debate on first-generation bioethanol production, both production and consumption of bioethanol have been increasing over the past decade due mainly to occasional or periodic uncertainty generated in the fossil fuel price. Except Brazil, no country until date has produced biofuel with a margin of profit without government subsidy. The world is currently producing about 103 billion liters of bioethanol per day, and half of this is produced in the United States followed by Brazil, European Union, China, Canada, and the rest of the world. Commercial bioethanol production in Australia has increased from 50 million liters (ML) in 2004 to 356ML in 2012 and then decreases to 250ML in 2017. This is equivalent to 0.33% of the total transport fuel consumption in Australia. Most studies found bioethanol production is cost effective if government subsidy or grants included in the cost estimation. Some studies supported government subsidy to grow feedstocks for commercial bioethanol production because it reduces up to 87% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. However, introduction of some nonfood crops such as agave that can grow well in arid and semiarid regions of Australia can create a new possibility of increasing commercial production of bioethanol in Australia.